Pesto Pecan Chicken: 3 Ingredient Entree

July 29, 2011 in Entrees, Healthy Fare

Pesto, presto.

Here’s a short, simple, yet highly scrumptious one for Friday: The title essentially gives you the recipe. This was a gem I found in Rozanne Gold’s “Low Carb 1-2-3″. Kind of a dry name, but honestly, the recipes are anything but! As long as you have a jar of prepared pesto on hand, it really is 3 ingredients. And feel free to make your own pesto – I love to do so, myself, but if you’re in a time crunch, it’s a big help. Use a Parmesan-free pesto and it’s not only low-carb, it’s also paleo-friendly.

PESTO PECAN CHICKEN

4 ounce jar pesto
3/4 cup pecans, finely chopped
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste (these don’t count as official ingredients by the 1-2-3 standard, which makes sense to me)

Preheat oven to  425.  If the breasts you’re using are very thick, you may want to pound them flatter first – I like to do so between 2 sheest of wax paper. Lay breasts in baking dish. Spread a thick layer of pesto on top of each breast, then press the pecans gently into the pesto, covering each breast as completely as you can.

Cover baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes covered, then 15 minutes uncovered (otherwise pecans may get too well-done). Ms. Gold then recommends drizzling any pan juices over the top.  This is also a fabulous leftover dish, either reheated OR cold.

Revel in your new easy weeknight fix!

– posted by Anne

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